Week Ahead in Insurance: June 14, 2021

Week Ahead in Insurance: June 14, 2021

(Reuters) – Here are some events of interest to the Insurance Law community this week. All times are local unless otherwise noted.

Tuesday, June 15

9:30 a.m. – The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear argument on just how much coverage Penske Truck Leasing provides with its “Penske Provides Coverage” option for truck renters: $15,000 or $750,000? The question arose in California, where an L&L Logistics driver was involved in a collision while driving a freightliner rented from Penske. Penske’s contract described the coverage as “basic automobile liability insurance … with limits as required by the state financial responsibility law or other applicable statute.” Penske and its underwriter, Old Republic Insurance, argue that California’s basic-auto requirement is $15,000/$30,000, and that L&L’s own policy from State Farm Mutual must cover any remaining liability. State Farm argues that California’s $750,000 mandatory minimum for trucks is an “other applicable statute.” The district court ruled for State Farm based on the expectations of the insured, saying Penske rents only trucks, and no reasonable truck renter would expect it to offer less insurance than the law requires.

The case is State Farm Mutual v. Penske Truck Leasing et al., 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 20-55893. For State Farm: Robert Brugge and Barbara Ciolino of Knapp, Petersen & Clarke. For Penske and Old Republic: Jake Gilbert of Arent Fox; Scott Hofer of Foland, Wickens, Roper, Hofer & Crawford.

9:30 a.m. (ET) – The National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the National Insurance Producer Registry co-host the NAIC 2021 Insurance Summit, “Where Education Meets Regulation.” The summit encompasses six days of virtual programming between June 15 and June 24, to be followed by a “hybrid” virtual and live meeting in September. This month’s programs are divided into nine core areas (such as Antifraud, Financial Regulation, Risk and Resilience, and Technology) with a wide variety of sessions on each topic. For example, the Antifraud cluster on June 16 and 17 includes the impact of COVID-19 on health-care fraud; insurance fraud during natural disasters and catastrophes; an elder-fraud case study; global fraud-fighting initiatives; the use of AI as a fraud-fighting tool, and more. The full agenda and speakers list is here.

5 p.m. – XL Insurance America, ACE American, AIG Specialty, Continental Casualty, and Ironshore Specialty must respond to Seattle-based Nordstrom Inc.’s federal lawsuit, which seeks to establish that the nationwide civil unrest in the days following the fatal arrest of George Floyd last year represents a single “occurrence” as defined by the policies. Nordstrom’s complaint, filed in March, alleged that all of its locations in U.S. and Canada were affected in one way or another; that its property damage and business interruption losses topped $25 million; and while the insurers had already paid about $5 million, they would not concede that the unrest was a single occurrence. Treating each incident as a separate occurrence is a “transparent attempt” to keep each loss below Nordstrom’s $1 million deductible, the complaint says. In a status report filed June 9, both sides said they will participate in early mediation this summer.

The case is Nordstrom Inc. v. XL Insurance America et al., U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington No. 21-0290. For Nordstrom: Franklin Cordell of Gordon Tilden Thomas & Cordell. For XL and ACE: Curt Feig and Matthew Erickson of Nicoll Black & Feig. For AIG, Continental, and Ironshore: Michael Ricketts of Gordon Thomas Honeywell.

Thursday, June 17

12 p.m. (CT) – Mark Zellmer of Husch Blackwell opens DRI’s 2021 Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Virtual Seminar with a panel discussion on trends, developments and defenses in asbestos and lead-contamination litigation. The half-day program also offers panels on disaster preparedness as an Environmental Justice issue, the ethics of “scientific misconduct,” and a look at significant developments in removal to federal court – particularly the use of pre-service “snap” removal and federal officer jurisdiction. For details, go here.

2 p.m. (ET) – The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies’ 2021 Virtual Event Series continues with “Nuclear Verdicts,” a one-hour webinar in which risk-management consultant Elise Farnham will discuss persuasion techniques used by the plaintiffs’ bar and the impact that high-dollar verdicts have on defense strategy. For more information on the webinar or the series, go here.

Know of an event that could be included in Week Ahead in Insurance Law? Contact Alexia Garamfalvi at alexia.garamfalvi@thomsonreuters.com

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